One Mother's Struggle

Patsy Fleckenstein, devoted mother of two; has spent the last 22 ½ years caring for her two quadriplegic children. In 1992 her 27 year old daughter Naomi was left paralyzed from her chest down, with no use of her hands, in a car accident, as a passenger on her way to work. Patsy and her husband Victor, (a steelworker at Bethlehem Steel) took in Naomi and her 3 children. Horribly, this was only the beginning of Patsy’s journey. In 1995, 2 ½ years later, Patsy’s only other child Jason, then 26 was also in a car accident, he was also a passenger and was left paralyzed from the chest down with no use of his hands. They of course made a place in their growing home for Jason and his son. Where most people would have given up and placed the two in homes Patsy and her Victor went into debt to try to secure their children’s future, to give them the opportunity to raise their children and to live a life of dignity in their own home.

  Heartbreakingly, the end of 1998, Victor was diagnosed with throat cancer, and after a 2 ½ year battle he was taken from the family, on October 21, 2001. Patsy has lived everyday with the grief of losing your one and only love, and with grit and determination she finds the strength to care for her children. This woman has gladly given up her life; raising at 7am every day, to start the physical care for each of her children. This includes but is not limited to bowel and Blatter care, feeding, exercising, dressing and transferring them to their wheelchairs. (That’s just the morning schedule) Cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, keeping house, all normal just add a few more things, like, brushing hair, administering medication, catheterizing, adjusting their bodies, bathing, and a thousand small things we take for granted every day, like scratching an itch. All these things Patsy does for her children.

  Patsy is now a 68 year old woman with physical problems of her own, she still cares for her children, ignoring her own pain. Her biggest fear is that she will leave her children with so much debt and that they will lose their home. She has been a good steward of their limited income, she won The Shire Brave award, for a non- professional caregiver in 2013, and with the cash prize she paid for much needed work on the family’s only vehicle an old ford Van (16 years old) that is capable of transporting Naomi and Jason in their wheelchairs. The last five years, has seen several unavoidable expenditures. A new roof on their home after the ceiling cave in, the removal of Jason’s teeth, do to decay from medication, the maintenance of an indoor wheelchair lift, and the removal and replacement of an outdoor wheelchair lift that died do to age. (It was 18 years old)

  We are hoping to raise $50,000.00 dollars to pay off these expenses which she has had to go into debt. So, that Jason and Naomi will not have to sell their home and go into nursing homes for the last 1/3 of their lives. That all the hard work of Victor to make his home accessible, and the devotion of Patsy to see that her children are properly care for can continue after she is gone. Your help can give Patsy the peace of mind, that her children will receive proper care long after she is gone, a legacy she has devoted her life to achieving. Thank you all for taking the time to read this, for the many prayers that this family will receive, and for even the smallest donation. Thank you